Catalysis of phosphodiester transesterification by dinuclear Cu(II) complexes: The role of the second Cu(II) ion

Two novel dinuclear Cu(II) complexes are prepared and shown to be highly active catalysts for phosphodiester transesterification. Comparative studies on the dinuclear complexes and corresponding mononuclear complexes reveal that one dinuclear complex achieves high activity by double Lewis acid and double general base catalysis while the other exploits single Lewis acid and double general base catalysis.